General

Nietzsche once remarked that life would be “aimless” (a confused “getting lost”) without music. There are many instances of musical performance that attest to the accuracy of this insight, and among these one must certainly count the music of Leonard Cohen. I can hardly imagine that fans of the man who “was born with the […]

Terms, phrases and personalities unique to South Africa often have to be translated or the general public will give up trying to figure out what the media are on about in many of their articles. Herewith the latest batch : Tenderpreneur shall mean a lover of the music of Elvis with hits like Love me […]

By Zukiswa Mqolomba It is a worrying sign indeed when the leadership of the African National Congress can use its weight in strong and uncritical defence of the ANCYL president, a symptom of the burgeoning trend among its ranks of greed, avarice and an insatiable appetite to amass personal wealth, while millions of South Africans […]

Jeffrey Sachs has become something of a force in international development circles over the past decade. As special advisor to the UN’s Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, former director of the UN’s Millennium Development Project, and a decorated economist at Columbia University, Sachs certainly has much to commend him. And his recognition has been no less […]

Six years have now past since that magnificent moment in Zurich when Fifa President Sepp Blatter declared that SA had earned the rights to host the biggest party on the planet. And with just over 100 days remaining before the kick-off to the 2010 World Cup, SA can rightfully stake its claim as being the […]

By Duncan Newton Keal At the completion of the test series between India and South Africa, a series touted as being the ‘world championship’ of Test cricket, I can not help wondering how good South African really is. When the Proteas made history by beating Australia, in Australia, many heralded it the rise of a […]

By Richard Kaplan In the late 1700s, Samuel Hahnemann invented homeopathy, a system of medicine which is reputed to be very effective for treating ailments in hobbits, elves, dwarves and other creatures of Middle Earth. Unfortunately, despite centuries of practise, this “healing modality” does not work for humans. While this may seem surprising, the reason […]

One thing I dislike and like at the same time about the web is being anonymous. While I am always honest about my identity when I make comments or write on the web, I can understand why some people choose to be anonymous. My profile is open and I am able to be tracked to […]

If we had a national genie, my three requests to her would be: To make us a country rich in the resource of leadership defined by wisdom, vision and integrity; To make us a forward-looking nation, while never forgetting our past; and To enact sufficient social and economic justice to foster a genuine sense of […]

It seems you were right. The natives are out to get us. I have tried to help them out, teach them a thing or two about democracy and living the rainbow dream, but all they have done is taunt me. I put on their bloody T-shirt and they laughed at me. I played their records […]

With the country in a tizz after sizzling reactions to severe price hikes as “tenderised Malema” hit the newsstands, fictitious members of the ANC top-brass met at an emergency meeting on Monday to resolve the latest crisis in the party. As news of government tenders enhancing the meagre salaries of government officials, their families, and […]

Poor refereeing decisions have been part of the game for a very long time but recently the man in the middle have been becoming more and more influential in matches, more match winners than match officials, stealing the thunder from the players. We can say that of course they are human beings and therefore can […]